Jay Z prepares to relaunch Tidal music service

Jay Z is gearing up for the relaunch of his recently acquired music streaming service Tidal, and he has a number of music heavyweights on board.

Beyoncé, Kanye West, Rihanna, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Cold Play, Daft Punk and a host of others have all taken to Twitter and Instagram to turn their profile pictures blue and use the hashtag #TIDALforALL as a show of solidarity ahead of a major announcement from Jay Z on Monday at 5 p.m. regarding the streaming service.

Tidal offers music from your favorite artists with high fidelity sound and high definition music videos, as well as professionally curated content. The service requires a rather pricey $19.99 monthly subscription (as opposed to Spotify’s monthly price point of $9.99) and is available in a number of countries, including the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

The involvement of so many of music’s biggest names could indicate a fundamental shift in the streaming business, especially since music lovers have increasingly gravitated toward streaming to consume music as opposed to the more traditional method of buying a physical copy of an album.

Tidal will provide direct competition to Spotify, which is the dominant force in music streaming at the moment with more than 60 million users worldwide. The market will get even more competitive when Dr. Dre and Apple relaunch the Beats Music platform later this year.

At the press conference, Jay Z is expected to “announce a commitment to a new direction for the music industry from both a creative and business perspective,” which will hopefully provide some insight on the company’s grand plans moving forward. The event will be streamed live on the Tidal website.